Homework 1: Mathematics of Fairness and Equity
Prepared by:
Joseph Malkevitch
Department of Mathematics and Computer Studies
York College (CUNY)
Jamaica, New York 11451
email: malkevitch@york.cuny.edu
1. Consider the election diagram below:
a. How many voters preferred C to B?
b. How many voters preferred B to A?
c. How many voters ranked B lowest?
d. How many voters ranked A lowest?
e. How many voters rank C first?
f. How many voters ranked D is second place?
g. Who would win if each of the following methods was carried out?
i. Plurality
ii. Run-off
iii. Sequential run-off
iv. Borda Count
v. Condorcet
vi. Nanson
vii. Coombs
h. What is the ranking that is produced by the Borda count?
i. Construct a matrix whose rows and columns are labeled by the alternatives (candidates) and where the (i, j) entry is the number of voters who preferred candidate i to candidate j.